Educational reference
About this symptom
This describes worry that resists being set aside. The person may recognise that a concern is disproportionate, may have addressed it as far as it can be addressed, and still find it returning.
People describe attempts to stop that do not work, worry that moves to a new subject as soon as one is resolved, and a sense of being unable to switch off. Efforts to control it, including reassurance-seeking, avoidance and mental rehearsal, often provide brief relief and make the pattern stronger over time.
This loss of control, more than the content of the worry, is what distinguishes generalised anxiety from ordinary concern. Most worries are about plausible things; it is the persistence, the breadth and the difficulty stopping that mark the difference.
Psychological therapies address this pattern directly, working on the relationship to worry rather than attempting to resolve each individual concern.